Chapter 361: This Is an Open Scheme

The word "falling for it" wasn't quite the right way to put it, but at this moment Yu Dazhang couldn't afford to worry about that.

After hanging up the phone, he walked over to the officer from the Technical Division and looked at the electronic map on the computer screen.

A flashing red dot on it was moving bit by bit toward the center of the map; each flash meant they were one step closer.

"Did you tell the Provincial Bureau people about the car model?" Yu Dazhang looked at Lu Zhongxin.

"Already told them," Lu Zhongxin replied:

"A white Nissan sedan, very easy to identify."

What else hadn't he thought of… Yu Dazhang walked over to the window and looked out, the scenes from the investigation over these past days flashing ceaselessly through his mind.

The other side had begun laying out their plan and putting it into action eleven years ago.

They had enslaved so many mentally disabled people and never been discovered.

The planner was meticulous.

The executor was obedient.

They had even added an underground prison into the criminal process, and used "feet" to keep each link separated.

Whoever could design all of this—after the Yancheng industrial zone was busted—wouldn't have anticipated the police setting a trap for them?

Possible?

Even Wang Hao could come up with a way to deal with the trap the police had set, let alone the planner of that organization.

So…

Zhang Chao shouldn't have come!

That's right, no matter how you looked at it, he shouldn't have come.

Yet he insisted on driving over anyway, and it was he himself who had offered to come pick up Wang Hao.

Since it wasn't walking into a trap of his own accord,

then what was their method of response?

At this moment, Yu Dazhang felt his brain wasn't enough.

"Dazhang, what's wrong?"

At this moment Zhang Sen walked over and patted his shoulder:

"Why do you seem a little panicky?"

"Oh, nothing." Yu Dazhang came back to himself and waved his hand:

"Just feels a little too smooth, probably I'm just being oversensitive."

There was no evidence right now to prove the other side was playing tricks, so he could only gloss over it vaguely.

He couldn't let his own speculation affect other people's judgment, especially at this critical juncture.

Since the other side had already come, apart from watching and waiting, Yu Dazhang had no better method for the moment.

At this moment, the police walkie-talkie on Lu Zhongxin suddenly crackled to life:

"Target spotted, target spotted, a white Nissan sedan with Hunan B plates just passed through the east intersection of the compound, heading toward the compound."

They're here!

Yu Dazhang's spirit was instantly roused; he quickly sidestepped a small pace to the west, then stood by the window and looked east.

At the same time he understood why Qi Fang would say "failsafe."

Not only was the inside of the compound under tight control, even the roads outside had police forces deployed.

This meant the police surveillance range had already expanded to a fairly large area, with virtually no blind spots.

The number of SWAT officers mobilized this time was definitely not small.

So many people to catch one Zhang Chao—seemed a bit like overkill.

At this moment, another officer's voice came over the walkie-talkie:

"Target has entered the compound from the east, the car windows are tinted one-way film, can't see inside the vehicle."

Listening to report after report, Yu Dazhang couldn't help but get a little tense himself.

The atmosphere was all whipped up.

Something that shouldn't have been tense was forcibly made to quicken his heartbeat by these rapid-fire reports.

"Target vehicle has stopped at the designated position."

Along with this report, a car horn sounded downstairs, honking twice in a row, just as had been arranged over the phone earlier.

At this moment Wang Hao also came to the window.

"Is that the car?" Yu Dazhang pointed at the white Nissan parked downstairs and asked.

"That's right, that's the one." Wang Hao only glanced once and said with great certainty:

"The plates match too, it's just…"

He furrowed his brow, as if he had thought of something, looking a bit troubled, a bit hesitant.

At this moment an ill premonition also welled up in Yu Dazhang's heart, and he hurriedly urged:

"Just what?"

"It's just…" Wang Hao hemmed and hawed:

"We don't know if it's Zhang Chao in the car. From up here we can only see the vehicle, we can't tell at all who's sitting inside."

I know where the problem lies now… hearing his words, Yu Dazhang finally figured out what trick the other side was playing.

Turning their own scheme against them!

Zhang Chao didn't need to come in person at all; he only had to leave his phone in the car.

Then find someone to drive his car over to pick up Wang Hao.

Precisely because of the phone's location, the police would assume Zhang Chao had driven over himself.

The current situation is...

The person and the car are both here. How do you plan to respond?

First option: Doesn't matter who's in the car — grab them first, talk later.

If we do that, the other side's little probe succeeds.

It escalates straight from "playing along" to "luring the snake out of its hole."

At the cost of one phone and one car, they've successfully drawn out the police and probed Wang Hao's true current state.

Second option: Have Wang Hao go downstairs, get in the car, and confirm.

If Zhang Chao isn't in the car, let the other side drive off with him.

That way we wouldn't be discovered by them, but the risk is enormous too.

If we just let them leave like this, no one can guarantee Wang Hao won't run off afterward.

Wouldn't that just turn into picking Wang Hao up for a getaway?

Besides, even if Wang Hao goes with them, that doesn't mean he'll actually get to see Zhang Chao.

Too many variables on the road — easy to slip out of police control.

Yu Dazhang's feeling right now comes down to one word: stuck between a rock and a hard place.

This is an open scheme... He realized that no matter what choice he made, Wang Hao was bound to be exposed this time.

Even if he lets Wang Hao get in the car, once the other side drives to some remote spot, the police won't be able to keep tailing them — at that point they can only close the net.

Better to just grab him now than let it come to that.

That's a pro~

The phone tracking ended up being the very tool the other side used against the police.

Just as Yu Dazhang was wavering, a car horn blared again from downstairs.

At the same time, his phone rang.

Yu Dazhang glanced at the caller ID: Qi Fang.

The moment the call connected, Qi Fang's anxious voice came through:

"How about it — grab them or not?"

That question actually stumped Yu Dazhang for a moment.

Then he turned and glanced at Wang Hao, and made up his mind on the spot.

Can't let him go!

Honestly, there's nothing to hesitate about. Letting Wang Hao leave with the other side would be an absolutely idiotic move.

The reason is simple: his identity doesn't allow it.

Wang Hao isn't a cop. Sending him off with the other side is the same as sending one criminal to go undercover on another criminal.

That would be the real bullshit move.

"Grab them!" Yu Dazhang ordered immediately:

"The person in the car probably isn't the suspect, but stay on your guard."

"Copy!" After a single acknowledgment, Qi Fang hung up.

Then his voice came over the police radio, issuing orders:

"Team One, move up ahead and block their path. Team Two, flank from behind. Team Three, get ready to intercept..."

The moment the words fell, several private cars suddenly shot out from both sides. After a screech of hard braking, the white Nissan sedan was boxed in front and back.

Car doors slammed. Detectives piled out, weapons up, and quickly surrounded the Nissan in a tight ring.

"Don't move!"

"Hands off the wheel — behind your head!"

(End of chapter)